HSJ Liveblog 1.3.13 Fleet Street piles the pressure on Nicholson

5.21pm The Royal College of Midwives has released a statement on the South West Pay Cartel’s Terms and Conditions Consortium assessment and recommendations about pay, terms and conditions in the NHS.

See full statement attached in bar on right hand side of this page.

5.15pm UKIP has written to Jeremy Hunt calling for Sir David to go.

Stephanie McWilliam, UKIP Health Spokesman, writes: “Given that the role of leadership is to inspire, it can be seen that Sir David Nicholson lacks both ability and public confidence in his ability to provide leadership anywhere within healthcare in the UK and should resign, and if not we call for his dismissal.”

See full letter attached n bar on right hand side of this page.

2.58pm More people than ever before could benefit from personal health budgets under new plans, care and support minister, Norman Lamb.

A consultation, launched today, will gather views on how personal health budgets should be rolled out across the country. See more information here

Lord Howe has written to Parliament playing down the effect of new competition rules, in an attempt to stave off political opposition, HSJ has learned.

10.24am A very significant day for Sir David Nicholson as Fleet Street piles the pressure on the embattled NHS chief executive to quit.

An editorial in The Times – renowned as the paper of The Establishment – is titled: “Hospital Pass: After Mid Staffs, the NHS suffers by Sir David Nicholson remaining in his post”.

It says: “Scandals are what happens when scandalous behaviour comes to light. When an organisation becomes embroiled in one, the important thing is that responsibility is taken and seen to be taken. In the case [of Mid Staffs], this has not yet fully occurred.

“With the stated backing of David Cameron and Labour spokesmen, Sir David will be staying in his post.

“This cannot be right…surely the top line of [the Francis Report] should have been that when a hospital fails so completely, the person at the top cannot hope to stay in place.”

8.12am: 72 per cent of people think that the long-term care system is “out of date and requires an overhaul to ensure it is fit for purpose” according to an online survey. In November, 2,008 people responded to the survey commissioned by Assisted Living Innovation Platform at the Technology Strategy Board. We need to kick-start a radical rethink of the current model of long-term care to create a new and desirable alternative they write.